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Leave to the wise old sage Charles Oakley to come up with the pertinent question about the Toronto Raptors’ future as this entirely unexpected surprise of a season nears its completion with a playoff series on the horizon.

“Is it fool’s gold?” the former Raptors leader asks. “They better be careful that it’s not.”

Oakley, taking part in a Raptors alumni weekend set up by the team’s charitable foundation in Florida late last month, wondered if the Raptors are built for continued success and a sustained rise through the Eastern Conference ranks or if they might a one-time supernova simply taking advantage of an odd season up and down the conference.

It’s a legitimate question.

Is this core group good enough to be a perennial playoff team and legitimate contender to play for a championship? And what does general manager Masai Ujiri have to do to make sure growth is steady and that this isn’t a one-off post-season appearance that will simply tease long-suffering fans who haven’t sniffed the playoffs since 2008?

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“I like their pieces,” said one advance scout for an Eastern Conference rival. “But they’ve got some work to do.”

Ujiri has held all season that this is nowhere near a complete roster and his search for talent upgrades is all-consuming.

But it would seem that the core is young enough and affordable enough that a natural progression and adding key pieces may not be too hard to accomplish.

DeMar DeRozan, the team’s lone all-star, is under contract for three more years, while the Raptors have young starters Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas tied up for at least three more years — and that is seen around the league as a solid base.

“If they get a homecourt seed, they should win a series, they have enough talent,” said Oakley, who appeared in three playoff series with the Raptors, including the only one the franchise has ever won. “They’re young still, don’t get caught up in that. They need to get better.”

Indeed, there are questions that must be answered to ensure the Raptors aren’t one of those teams that simply gets in the playoffs each year without making substantial strides towards at least playing for a title.

The biggest, of course, concerns the fate of point guard Kyle Lowry, an emerging team leader who is enjoying his best season of eight in the NBA and who becomes an unrestricted free agent in July.

While Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Tim Leiweke said last week the team would re-sign Lowry, decisions like that —and which pieces need to be added — are going to be Ujiri’s to make.

Natural growth is one thing — DeRozan has become a better player each year in the league, while it’s yet to be determined if Ross and Valanciunas can match his progression — but for sustained excellence, there has to be more.

There is one clear fact that leads to a natural move up in the standings, and that is to keep a good core together.

The San Antonio Spurs are the gold standard; they have added to the Tim Duncan-Tony Parker-Manu Ginobili triumvirate has assured sustained excellence. Same goes in Dallas, with a group put together around the Hall of Fame talents of Dirk Nowitzki. One of the dangers, however, is becoming a team like the Atlanta Hawks, that never legitimately challenged for a title with the Joe Johnson-Josh Smith pairing.

“Have to make the right moves,” said Oakley. “Can’t just count on young kids.”

Ujiri’s balancing act will be to spend money wisely and on the right type of complementary player, and that’s always a crapshoot.

Depending on the outcome and timing of the Lowry situation and decisions on the likes of restricted free agents Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons, the general manager could have about $10 million to spend in free agency this summer and about three times that much in the summer of 2015.

It’s impossible to predict whether he can build on this magical year and turn the Raptors into a legitimate, consistent Eastern Conference contender — but right now, the pieces seem in place to answer Oakley’s question in the negative.

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